Rating: 
Summary: The best picture of 2002...
Review: There were many greats from 2002, but only one stands out as being the most original, the most romantic, the most bizarre and the most simplisticly loveable. P.T. Anderson does it again with "Punch-Drunk Love," a dizzying throw-back to the good ole' days of cinema with a charge of postmodernity thrown in with the mix. It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's uplifting and it just might change the way you view love. Clearly, the best portrayal of what real love is supposed to look like. Not flashy, beautiful or "Sweet Home Alabama"-like. Not about the external but about the internal. Not about deceit, but about honesty. Not about being the best you can be but about being who you were made to be. I only wish more people would've caught onto this gorgeous film. My only response is that why didn't they? Was the movie beyone America's reach? Are we getting too dumb with films? Let's pray and hope not!
Rating:
Summary: Adam Sandler's Greatest!
Review: This is definitley one of the best films ever. Adam Sandler's performance as this character who supperes his anger has got to be one of greatest acting jobs he ever did. His old movies were a guilty pleasure to me because well...They weren't very good. But this dark, moving comedy was amazingly great. If Sandler doesmore films like this, he can be holding that Oscar in his hand. My final grade:A.
Rating: 
Summary: title of review
Review: So, firstly, I guess I should say that I did like this movie, but at the same time I think it's overrated, like most classy respected films are. I like that it kept me interested in what was going to happen to Barry next. It was a good character study, the way the various aspects of his character came out, and fit together to make an interesting, if somewhat unrealistic, person.
I don't know what the car flipping over at the start was about. I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to pointless surrealist imagery. And if the harmonium, as another reviewer said, existed just for his learning to play to provide a metaphor for his learning to live and love, I find that a bit trite.
The love story element didn't do a lot for me. The couple of parts that made me smile were the girl's naive awkward expressions of honesty. When she was all forward asking him out, and then calling him back up to her room from the lobby to kiss him, but those kind of things aren't too far removed from standard romantic comedy fare, just with a less flowery tone. So yeah, that's basically what I think about the film as a whole, the parts that are successful aren't particularly artistic, and the parts that do lean into arty territory are a bit trite and only served to alienate me from the plot/characters.
The other central plotline, the phone sex scam, was done well and evolved nicely. Like Barry's character evolution it was engaging and kept me interested in what would happen next. But when it ended with him defeating the scammers because of the strength love had given him, it was, again, trite. That part of the plot had until that point evolved in a believable realistic manner, then the rules are just flipped and that part of the plot exists solely as a cartoonish backdrop for him to demonstrate the power of love upon. The conslusion and closure I had been anticipating were basically dismissed.
The whole film ends rather abruptly too. Apparetly they were in love so there's the happy ending, film over. I really didn't buy them as in love. The few words they had exchanged during their meetings and dates really left them as little more than strangers to each other in my eyes. I can buy them having passion for each other, but there was no genuine bond or understanding developed between the two that I saw. Certainly nothing to sum up the film as.
Rating: 
Summary: Sweet, Romantic and....Nutty
Review: Adam Sandler is surprisingly very effective in a more serious and laidback role. It's totally different than anything else he has done before and I wouldn't mind seeing him in more serious roles like this. He plays a easygoing nice guy with 7 sisiters who treat him like crap. One of them introduces him to a friend of there's played by Emily Watson. She wants to date him despite his sister trying to make her think he's nuts. They date and after a goodnight kiss he wants to see her more. There's also a subplot where some guys are after him because he called a scamming phone sex number just to talk because he was lonely. The women he talks to keeps calling him asking for money and threatens him since she has all his information. His character unlike all his other ones has a bad tempter hidden inside him and when he's pushed too hard...look out. When he's mad in this it's actually scary although u can't help laughing too. Sandler is excellent and his scenes with Watson are sweet and funny. They have good chemestry too. During Oscar time Sandler deserved a nomination but just like Jim Carrey was for the Truman Show....he was screwed over.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but WAY to confusing.
Review: I am not one to say I dislike a lot of movies, but this one was way to confussing. There was no charecter development, there was no plot, and there was little story. I still have no idea what this movie was supposed to be about. From what little I understand this man is very introverted, but when some bothers him he breaks things. He meets a girl and loves her. Beyond that everything else is too weird. I gave this movie two stars because it looks at life in a new sort of way. I wish I could have givin it a better review but I just can't
Rating:
Summary: Sandler's best, period
Review: not your average Sandler goofball movie and it was his best one that year alongside the stinkpots 8 Crazy Nights and Mr. Deeds. Sandler really is great in this one and I enjoyed that, I also enjoyed the lovely Emily Watson as well and its strange and odd in some parts and then it gets reall good and moves along. great romantic side of it does well also. pt anderson does it again
Rating:
Summary: Quirky & Haunting
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson won the best director award in 2002 at the Cannes Film Festival for this little gem. Jon Brion who did sound on two of Anderson's other films, "Magnolia" and "Hard Eight," is certainly almost another character with a score whose emphasis on dissonance and percussion mirror the quirky and haunting world of Barry Egan. Anderson's film is somewhat expressionistic in its use of sound that is bold & effective. One might wonder how someone as wonderfully naive as Barry is able to run a business; but it is the stark normalcy of the spacious empty warehouse setting that contrasts the unusual events and cluttered emotions of Barry's inner life. There are no frogs dropping from the sky like in "Magnolia," but there is a harmonium that is mysteriously dropped off at the end of the alley after a rolling car crash. We see Barry presented with an instrument, but unable to play well which mirrors his lack of ability to find joy and happiness. Luis Guzman who was in "Count of Monte Cristo" does a nice job as Barry's foreman, anchoring the movie's sense of reality. Adam Sandler does an amazing job of being a completely repressed guy who continually wears a bright blue suit and then turns around and puts his fist through a glass door at his sister's house. He seeks therapy advice from his dentist brother-in-law who then blabs all about it to the whole family, totally humiliating Barry. This character's world is so unsatisfying and his behavior so naive, that it is believable he'd call a phone porn number just to have a chat. It's never entirely clear why Lena Leonard played by the marvelous Emily Watson is attracted to Barry. The great moral of the picture that when we have love in our lives we become stronger than anyone could possibly imagine is shouted at Philip Seymour Hoffman in the mattress shop. And that's what this movie is about; and it is enough. Along with Jon Brion's score, the visual rainbow elements make this as much an art film as a commercial venture. We see repeated themes of hallways and corridors throughout which give the movie a sense of transition. "Punch Drunk Love" has a unique artistic vision that is ultimately rewarding. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: QUESTION
Review: First off, this movie was better than I expected. I really did not care for this director's earlier efforts, BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA. And I can only handle Adam Sandler in small doses. But a friend strongly recommended this, so I broke down and gave it a shot. I actually really enjoyed Sandler's offbeat character, and the story (particularly the love story portion of it) was very interesting, as strange as it was. That being said, I have a question for anybody that saw it in the theater. At the end when Sandler confronts Philip Seymour Hoffman in the furniture store, did he passively walk away after confronting him, or did he smash the store up? Now, my friend and I rented it from Blockbuster, and they are notorious for editing their movies (I am not sure how they can get away with this, but another friend bought Taxi Driver from them and it had much of the violence removed, and the Mulholland Drive I purchased from them actually blurred specific areas during a nude scene). In the version of PDL we rented, Sandler confronts Hoffman, and then quietly leaves the store, but my friend insists that in the theater Sandler acted much more violently. If anybody can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it, and I can be reached at Chewms5@hotmail.com. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Not a typical juvenile comedy
Review: I was forced to write a positive review in response to the many negative commentaries I've seen posted by fans of previous Adam Sandler movies. This movie is ABSOLUTELY nothing like his previous juvenile comedies, nor is it a typical P.T. Anderson film. It is a simple story about a socially repressed business man who, like many middle aged Americans, is lacking a defining guiding principle in life. More than anything it is a modernist fable about isolation and it's inherent danger. It is a story about boredom, about survival, about self-destruction, but most of all it's a story about the power of love. Sandler can't act like a retarded 20 year old forever, and thankfully for us he's moved on. Don't watch this movie if you want another Waterboy, watch this movie if you've ever wanted anything more.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie as I never thought much of Adam Sandler's other movies. In this I have to admit he's close to brilliant, although how much of it is attributable to the actual screenplay is perhaps debatable. But even beyond that, this movie is truly a visual and artistic feat. One is compelled to feel for Sandler's character by way of inventive emotional and visual cues along with a very effective audio overlay. Never does it approach being heavy-handed, formulaic or corny. Subtle, memorable, offbeat and enjoyable. Highly recommended.
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